Wasting Food is a No-No in Denmark

Minimizing food wastage is one of the main concerns of Denmark in its goal to eradicate the throwaway mentality. Wasting food is an avoidable scenario and the government is actively participating in efforts to curb it. In fact, a charter against food wastage has been drawn by the Ministry of Environment.

Efforts towards preventing food wastage are focused on individuals, households and commercial entities for the purpose of reducing food leftovers, encouraging wise shopping, and developing initiative to donate surplus food to charities. A large non-profit organization called the Stop Wasting Food Denmark is in the forefront of this nationwide effort which incidentally has a seat in the Initiative Group Against Food Waste under the Danish Minister for the Environment.

According to recent studies, annual food waste of the country amounts to about 540,000 tons. Because of this huge number, Danes are continuously being reminded that this equates to a loss of at least 60 kilograms of food per person. In that light, the amount of wastage appeared to have been made clearer thus the great impact of the continuing program. It is of note that households produce the biggest amount of food waste.

It is quite clear therefore that direct consumers have a big responsibility in this effort. Residents of Denmark are being taught the value of buying and cooking only what is intended to be consumed on a short term basis. Some retailers have decided to drop quantity discounts to discourage buying food in large quantities. The reason for this is the tendency for food under long storage to go to waste.